Loose Ladies

1989-1991: Downpatrick, Co. Down, N. Ireland Starting high school Timothy James Arthur Wheeler and Mark Alexander Hamilton meet at the age of 12. They are rubbish at football. Turning to music they set out on an excellent adventure, but gain reputation locally as the worst band in County Down as guitarist and bassist in Iron Maiden wannabes Vietnam. 1992: With grunge hitting its peak Vietnam split. Stuck for a drummer they recruit cowboy-booted church stock-smith Richard Wilson McMurray aged 16. Picking the first short word they like in the dictionary, ASH is born. Inspired by Nirvana, Mudhoney, The Pixies and local punk rock gurus Lazergun Nun our teenage heroes play most weekends at dives in Belfast and Downpatrick, changing their reputation into a super-teen punk pop machine. Ultra-prolific songwriters, they fund countless demos with money saved by starving themselves during lunch break and an infamous tuck shop scam. 1993: Ash’s third demo tape, Garage Girl tops loc...